Being mindful in the now
Practice: Be Mindful with Your Phone
1. Sit comfortably, in an upright posture, with your phone (yes, I’m assuming you have one—if you’re reading this blog, there’s a very good chance you do!) in the palm of your hand which you can rest gently on your lap. Keep your eyes open for this meditation. 2. Turn your phone on, but do not open any particular app. Just let your thumb hover over top the screen. 3. Take in a full, deep breath into the belly. Let yourself feel the nuances of how the breath enters and leaves the body. For at least a couple of minutes or more, practice mindfulness of the sensations of your breathing. Simply place your attention (even though you’re looking at your phone) on the feeling of your breath coming in and out (without breathing in any particular, controlled way). If your mind drifts away (particularly to any of the things I’ve listed below), just gently bring awareness back to the breath. 4. Notice any of the following, and if they arise, just gently label them as either a want, frustration, restlessness, fatigue, or a sense of doubt and come back to being aware of how your breath feels. See if you can keep your awareness lightly connected to the sensation of the breath, and simultaneously see if you can notice any or all of the following if they happen to show up: a. Is there any impulse drawing your thumb of finger to open an app, check email, or some other aspect of your phone? Is there a want showing up in you—a sense of being pulled toward something? Get curious as to what this want, this desire, actually is in this moment. What are its components in your mind and bodily sensations? Notice the pull and see if you are willing to just ride the impulse without following it. Is this want actually the driving need it seems to be? . . . . . . Come back to noticing the breath, and silently ask: b. Is there something about looking at your phone that stirs frustration, angst or even anger? Are you reminded of someone or something that feels worthy of blame? Are you feeling frustrated over not immediately opening and using your phone? Can you just notice all that’s showing up right now? . . . Come back again to the sensation of the breath and ask: c. Is there anything about looking at your phone (and not sending your fingers flying as is your habit) that worries you? Is there an internal itch—a restless, crawling feeling? Label this as “restlessness” and watch the energy as it moves through mind and body. Just let it be. Does it change or stay the same? . . . And back to the breath yet again and see if: d. As you hold your phone, do you notice any sagging, depleted, or dull feelings? Is there a fatigue that sets in as you just sit looking at your phone, trying to keep awareness on the sensations of breathing? . . . And one last time, come back to the sensory details of your breathing. Really look at your phone and wonder: e. Does looking at this small object cast any doubt on how you manage your daily life, your attention? How does this small, thin rectangle make you feel about yourself, and your sense of control over your life? See if you can just stay with these thoughts and the feeling they’re joined to in the body and let them be. Can you see them as the mere story, the scripted narrative, that they really are? This practice is about opening up to our experience of how we make use of this piece of powerful technology. Instead of closing down our awareness and letting this device’s screen become a “rabbit hole” that we fall mindlessly into, are we willing to make a habit of seeing the negative states it can draw out of us. Again, smartphones (and the Internet, social media, and other digital technologies) aren’t inherently “bad.” They are, however, dangerously addictive. Sure, guns don’t pull their own triggers, and lines of cocaine don’t march up peoples’ noses unbidden, and yet somehow we typically know it’s not wise to place either in a young child’s unsupervised and unaware hands. Somehow we’re not so careful when it comes to our digital devices. Consider going beyond any current practice of mindfulness you’ve incorporated into your daily life. Consider making your phone itself a cue for waking up instead of checking out. And feel free to ask my wife what she thinks of all this – particularly when she’s trying to get me to engage a conversation about household logistics whilst my phone is open and casting its pale, zombified glow onto my face. References Aboujaoude, E. (2010). Problematic Internet use: an overview. World Psychiatry, 9(2), 85–90. Shapira, N. A., Lessig, M. C., Goldsmith, T. D., Szabo, S. T., Lazoritz, M., Gold, M. S. and Stein, D. J. (2003), Problematic internet use: Proposed classification and diagnostic criteria. Depression and Anxiety, 17: 207–216. Caplan, S.E. (2010). Theory and measurement of generalized problematic Internet use: A two-step approach. Computers and Human Behavior, 26(5): 1089-1097. Sara H. Konrath, S.H., O’Brien, E.H. and Hsing, C. (2011) Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15: 180. |
More mindfulness activities
How do you anchor yourself in the present? Answer the following questions with a partner then try the 7/11 activity.
•Since waking up today, what have you done on autopilot?
•Where do our minds tend to be when we’re on autopilot?
•What’s it like being on autopilot?
•Since waking up today, what have you done on autopilot?
•Where do our minds tend to be when we’re on autopilot?
•What’s it like being on autopilot?
One way of grounding yourself in the present moment is to focus on what the body is doing… simply observing your breath for example. One exercise for example, is called the 7-11.
Count from 1-7 as you breathe in, and from 1-11 as you breathe out. There is no need to change the breath… just (for example) speed up your counting towards the end if you think the in breath will finish before you get to 7.
The objective here is simply to pay attention to the breath by becoming aware of where exactly they are moment by moment in each breath.
Most of you, I imagine, for those seconds, were completely focussed on the present moment activity. That is a little mechanism, an exercise, which you can take with you anywhere. If you feel yourself getting really stressed, or angry, then use it.
However, it takes practice to get good at this. At first the mind wanders constantly, but with practice we learn to sustain our attention and direct it more skilfully. This helps break the grip of unhelpful mental habits, judgements and impulses, making way for greater calm, and for more helpful, kinder and rational thinking about all aspects of life.
Your flight or fight response just takes seconds to kick in, while rational thought can take up to ten seconds. counting to ten or focused breathing to ten (even better as it brings the minds attention to the breath not the reaction) allows the rational brain to overtake the flight and fight response. There is science behind those old habits.
Count from 1-7 as you breathe in, and from 1-11 as you breathe out. There is no need to change the breath… just (for example) speed up your counting towards the end if you think the in breath will finish before you get to 7.
The objective here is simply to pay attention to the breath by becoming aware of where exactly they are moment by moment in each breath.
Most of you, I imagine, for those seconds, were completely focussed on the present moment activity. That is a little mechanism, an exercise, which you can take with you anywhere. If you feel yourself getting really stressed, or angry, then use it.
However, it takes practice to get good at this. At first the mind wanders constantly, but with practice we learn to sustain our attention and direct it more skilfully. This helps break the grip of unhelpful mental habits, judgements and impulses, making way for greater calm, and for more helpful, kinder and rational thinking about all aspects of life.
Your flight or fight response just takes seconds to kick in, while rational thought can take up to ten seconds. counting to ten or focused breathing to ten (even better as it brings the minds attention to the breath not the reaction) allows the rational brain to overtake the flight and fight response. There is science behind those old habits.